Open source developers have officially released the first beta version of XBMC 12.0, also known as Frodo.
“Hundreds, if not thousands of people have contributed to XBMC in the form of core code, addons, skins, scripts, hosting, evangelizing, and more. Due in part to its open nature, XBMC has been ported to every major viable operating system and architecture,” XBMC developer NateThomas wrote in a blog post.
“Skilled skinners have succeeded in making skins that resemble almost every major 10′ UI released in the past ten years, along with dozens of completely unique looks seen nowhere else. XBMC can be had on devices as inexpensive as $25 and can be the primary UI for PCs a dozen times more powerful than the original Xbox was.”
Indeed, the latest iteration of XBMC is currently available for Windows, OS X and Ubuntu. The beta software can also be installed on a jailbroken Apple TV, iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Although we don’t have an exact date, support for Android is expected relatively soon, hopefully long before 12.0 exits beta.
Key Frodo features include:
* HD audio support, including DTS-MA and Dolby True-HD, via the new XBMC AudioEngine
* Live TV and PVR support
* h.264 10bit (aka Hi10P) video software decoding for anime
* 64bit support in OSX to match the 64bit support in Linux
* Improved image support, allowing the database to accomodate numerous additional image types
* Support for the Raspberry PI
* Initial support for the Android platform
* Improved Airplay support across all platforms
* Advanced Filtering in the library
* Advanced UPnP sharing
* Translations now powered by Transifex
It should be noted that 12.0 is still considered beta software. As such, users can expect various issues to crop up, such as partly broken skins and various scripting/scrapers errors.
Plus, it seems as if PVR users will not be able to switch channels via the channel up/down buttons using their remotes or CEC due to a slight change in the way PVR keymaps are being handled.
“We are aware of this issue and should have it fixed by Beta2… As always, if your goal is stability, we recommend that you avoid updating until we have gone gold. If you do decide to install this beta, it is highly recommended that you back up your userdata folder,” NateThomas added.
